Price increases for off-peak rates (Superdeal)

I don’t have a wiring diagram but confirm that our Superdeal meter has 6 cables going into it (including 3 output cables).  Our wiring set up is complex as it also includes a storage battery (and the Gateway controller) as well as a 4-pole contactor which switches on the storage heaters when triggered by the RTS signakl.

My understanding of the replies given above is that the Smart meter only provides two tariffs: the peak rate and the off-peak rate (which under Economy 9 comes on for 3 separate 3 hour periods) and I assume that both rates are available to everything in the house but that it is able to ensure that the storage heaters/immersion heater only receive power during the off-peak periods (is this correct?). 

As only two tariff rates are provided, I assume that off-peak and the heating rate will be the same.  This is not a major problem if the discount on the off-peak rate is large enough (and, as mentioned above, from 1 Jan the heating rate will be more than the off-peak rate - despite this being contrary to the ethos of providing a separate heating rate!)

I have only just noticed the ‘boost’ button on the Superdeal meter but have no idea what it does.  I would be reluctant to use this to boost 10 storage heaters on peak rate as this would be very expensive.  Also, this is not generally necessary as the output of the storage heaters can be boosted by opening their control flaps, turning on the storage heater fan (our larger storage heaters have this extra facility) or turning on a supplementary convection heater in selected rooms, or lighting the wood-burning stove.

Our immersion heater does come on during the night and this is not a problem with a well-insulated tank.  If we run out of hot water and need extra before the afternoon off-peak boost, the upper immersion heater in the tank (which is wired into the peak rate supply) can be switched on.

@SteveUK 

"My understanding of the replies given above is that the Smart meter only provides two tariffs"

In case it helps...

Smart meters themselves can record electricity usage every 30min so at the extreme you have tariff like Octopus Agile with the rate that varies every 30min and every day is different. 

Economy 7,9,10 have a peak and off peak rate. Just be careful as Economy 9 and 10 may simply not exist in years to come, so make sure whatever changes you make are as flexible as possible in case you have to tweak your setup again. I don't think it is clear exactly what tariff ovo will offer you when the RTS meters are all removed anyway.

There are new tariff being launched regularly, for example Octopus Cosy which is targeted at heat pumps has 3 rates. 

Then there are things like the British Gas Quantum tariff with very low off peak rates for use with Quantum Storage heaters.

Basically there is a lot of change happening on tariff.

@SteveUK 

You may benefit from paying a heating engineer to look at your complex setup.

Anyway a few things spring to mind.

Our immersion heater does come on during the night and this is not a problem with a well-insulated tank.  If we run out of hot water and need extra before the afternoon off-peak boost, the upper immersion heater in the tank (which is wired into the peak rate supply) can be switched on.

I think you will probably need a cheap timer added to the off peak immersion heater. That way if you go with anything like E9 you can control how long the tank heats up rather than the full 9 hours for example.

Yes, there is a lot happening on tariffs (and it would be good to have some definite clear proposals from OVO in good time before the RTS signal ceases).  Yes, the likes of Octopus are offering very flexible, multi-rate tariffs using smart meters which begs the question as to why OVO is taking so long, and making such heavy weather, of offering something similar.

The BG quantum tariff requires the use of their new intelligent (and very expensive) storage heaters.  If I was replacing one or two this might be of interest but for 10 the cost is prohibitive.

Yes, a simple, inexpensive time switch on the immersion supply(s) is feasible (I already have one on the peak rate immersion heater which I can just press to get a one or two hour boost if and when needed).

Hi @SteveUK 

I just wanted to chip in here to give some context on the Superdeal plan and the Ofgem price cap. 

I’ve been advised that the average unit rate for a multi-rate customer in the southern regions is 27.78p, which is the average rate for your Superdeal plan. In terms of the differences between the rates and changes on the 1st of January, how that’s worked out is by OVO and factors in lots, guided by the consumption splits for the tariff to ensure price cap compliance.

Let me know if you have any further questions around this change and I’ll do my best to get you the answers you need. 

The average rate obviously depends on how many units of the 3 rates the consumer uses - and is likely to vary from consumer to consumer.  But whatever calculations have been done that fact remains that the price savings on the off-peak rates are now MUCH reduced. 

The fact that the heating rate is now MORE than the off-peak rate is totally contrary to the ethos of the heating rate (which has been lower than the off-peak rate ever since the Superdeal tariff was introduced).

It would now make more sense to run the storage heaters on the off-peak rate at night and the heating rate during the afternoon top-up period but this is impossible to achieve.  This is very consumer-unfriendly especially for those of us with a large number of storage heaters (we have 10).

I would prefer a higher day rate and lower off-peak and heating rates.

No need for regret here. You don’t qualify for it anyway. It’s only for those who currently have a conventional (not-smart) E7 meter and already has the heaters.

I only have one heater, and it needs replacing, so I was very tempted by this offer and I rang the number to confirm this. It’s very mystifying. How many people would spend the money to buy intelligent heaters but to bother for a free meter upgrade? It’s not a bait&switch, because they did not try to get my details when it proved I didn’t qualify. I also asked, assuming I had the right meter, if I could buy the heaters and then opt into the tariff, and he said in theory, but he couldn’t guarantee the tariff would still be offered then. Also, as there is no joined-up way of buying the heaters, if somehow the one I chose wasn’t acceptable I would be sh*t out of luck.

Nice if you happen to have the perfectly configured home for this offer, but I am mystified why the did a mailbox drop to my neighbourhood. We have no gas, but I can’t imagine there are many that have this peculiar mix of expensive high-tech and free-to-upgrade low tech. 

Mabels:your reply is blank